Fracking leak causes methane to contaminate groundwater in Pa.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection has acknowledged that methane from a fracking operation has contaminated groundwater and wellwater in Leroy Township, Pa.

At the home of Mike and Nancy Leighton, water began bubbling over a water well that typically had over 80 feet of head space at the top. Nearby, a neighbor’s well went dry, then when water returned it was black.

The Pennsylvania DEP says methane must have escaped from a nearby fracked well, operated by Chesapeake Energy.